Rules for Michigan · Last updated September 9, 2026

Michigan cottage food law (2026): what you can sell and label

Michigan has no forms, no registration and no permit, and MDARD says so plainly. The 2026 update raised the cap and finally allowed online sales, with a condition attached.

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Key takeaways

No application, no registration process, no licence or permit from MDARD.
$50,000 a year, or $75,000 where units sell at $250 or more. The cap is per operator.
Online and mail order allowed within Michigan, if the buyer can interact with you directly first.

What Michigan actually decides

MDARD is unusually direct about this: there are no application forms to complete, no registration process, and no food licence or permit to obtain. That makes Michigan one of the easiest states to start in, and it puts all the weight on getting the product and the label right, because nobody is going to check either until there is a complaint.

The 2026 update did two useful things. It raised the cap to $50,000 a year, or $75,000 where the products sell at $250 or more per unit, which is aimed squarely at wedding and celebration cakes. And it allowed internet, mail order and third-party delivery sales within Michigan, provided the buyer has a chance to interact with you directly first. That condition is doing real work: a listing that never lets the customer reach you is not what this permits. MDARD calls it the 2026 update but publishes no effective date, so the date here comes from secondary sources.

The cap is per cottage food operator, not per household, which matters if two people in the same house both sell. The product list is a genuine list and celebration cakes are explicitly on it, including wedding cakes and cupcakes. Shelf-stable pies including cooked fruit pies are in. Cheesecake, cream, custard, pumpkin and lemon meringue are out, and so is cream cheese frosting, which catches a lot of decorators.

One optional number exists. The MSU Product Center runs a voluntary registration purely so you have something to print in place of your home address. It is not a licence and it does not register you with anyone who regulates you.

One caveat on the sourcing. The agency's own page did not spell out the permit or registration, the training requirement or the date a recent change took effect, so those came from the statute and secondary sources rather than from Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development directly. Everything else on this page was read off an official source on September 9, 2026. If one of those points decides your case, ask them.

The short version

what the rule is calledCottage food operation

when an inspector comesOnly on a complaint

annual sales limit50,000 USD

What you can sell in Michigan

Straight from the official record. Read these as categories rather than a menu, because one recipe can cross the line on its own: a filling that needs refrigeration, a pH that needs testing, or a process that needs an authority to sign it off.

Cakes, including celebration cakes such as birthday, anniversary, wedding and cupcakes
Breads, quick breads and muffins
Cookies and baked goods
Shelf-stable pies, including cooked fruit pies
Confections and candies made without alcohol
Chocolate-covered pretzels, marshmallows, graham crackers and strawberries
Fruit jams and jellies as defined in 21 CFR part 150, in glass jars
Dry herbs and dry herb mixtures, dry baking, dip and soup mixes
Granola, and dried pasta made with or without eggs
Vinegar and flavored vinegars
Popcorn, and roasted coffee beans or ground roasted coffee
Icings and frostings made with all shelf-stable ingredients

Up nextWhat is outside the rule

What is outside the rule

If your product is on this list, the answer is not "ask nicely". It is a different licence, a different kitchen, or both.

Canned, acidified, acid, low acid or pickled foods
Pies or cakes that require refrigeration, such as cheesecake, cream, custard, pumpkin and lemon meringue
Cream cheese frostings or icings
Meat, fish, and dehydrated meats such as jerky
Milk and dairy products like cheese or yogurt
Sauces, salsas, salad dressings, hot sauce, ketchup and mustard
Beverages, including juices, kombucha, apple cider and lemonade
Fermented foods, sourdough starter, and fruit or vegetable butters

Where you are allowed to sell it

The researched record lists direct sales, farmers markets, online orders, delivery, in-state shipping.

One channel being open does not open the rest. Shipping, delivery and wholesale each turn on the product and where it is going, so check the route you actually plan to use.

Paperwork, training and inspections

The researched record does not list a general permit for this tier. MDARD says plainly that there are no application forms to complete, no registration process, and no food licence or permit to obtain from MDARD. The only number available is the voluntary MSU Product Center registration, which you may print in place of your home address.

No training is recorded as universally required. No training is stated as mandatory on any MDARD cottage food page, and ServSafe is not mentioned.

Only on a complaint is what the record says about inspections. Confirm what that means for your product and your local authority, because the two can differ.

Kitchen rules people miss

None of these fit on a label, which is exactly why they get skipped. Read them before the first batch, not after.

Products must be made in the kitchen of your primary residence, not a rented, second or motor home kitchen.
Ingredients and finished products must be stored inside the residence, never in a garage, shed, barn or outbuilding.
Private well water should be tested at least once a year for coliform bacteria and partial chemistry.
Equipment does not have to be NSF approved.

What changed, and when

A dated change means an older checklist can be confidently wrong. Read the instrument itself at the official source before you trust anything written before these dates.

2026-03-24: Sales cap raised to $50,000, or $75,000 for units priced at $250 or more, and internet, mail order and third-party delivery sales allowed within Michigan when the buyer has a chance to interact directly with the operator first. MDARD calls this the 2026 update but publishes no effective date, so the date here comes from secondary sources.

What belongs on a Michigan label

Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, checked September 9, 2026

01Product name
02Ingredients by weight
03Allergens
04Net weight
05Name and street address
06Home kitchen statement, exact wording
No permit number. Required text at least 11 point.

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In this order, so the label is the last thing you check and not the first thing you guess.

Check your frostings before your recipes. Cream cheese icing is prohibited, and it is the most common reason a cake fails this rule.
Work out which cap applies to you. $75,000 only applies where units sell at $250 or more.
If you sell online, make sure buyers can actually reach you directly. That is the condition the 2026 update attaches.
Register with the MSU Product Center if you want your home address off the label. It is voluntary and label-only.
Confirm the current cap with MDARD before planning a year around it. No effective date is published for the update.

Nearby places

Nearby guides

Neighboring states and provinces look similar until the one difference that matters. Worth a read if you sell across a border, or if someone on the other side gave you advice.

Pairs well with

Keep going

ToolCottage food label makerTurn your recipe, allergens and required statement into a printable label.GuideCottage food business guideThe wider framework: product, kitchen, sales channel, label and local checks.GuideCottage food label requirementsEvery field a cottage food label needs, in the order to check them before you print.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Details were checked against public sources on September 9, 2026. Confirm current prices, policies, or provider instructions before relying on them.

Is this the whole Michigan rule?

No, and you should not treat it as one. This is the official source read carefully on September 9, 2026 and put in one place. Your city, your county, the market you sell at and your own product can each add a layer this page does not know about. Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is the authority, not us.

Can I just use the label maker and skip this?

The label maker opens with the fields this jurisdiction requires, so it will get the sticker right. What it cannot do is tell you whether the recipe is allowed, whether your kitchen qualifies, or whether you can sell through the channel you had in mind. A correct label on a product you are not allowed to sell is still a problem.

Does the right label make me compliant?

No. The label is the last step and the most visible one, which is why it gets all the attention. The recipe, the kitchen, the training, the registration and the sales route all sit upstream of it, and any one of them can be the thing that is actually wrong.

More cottage food laws

Selling somewhere else too?

The rule changes with the kitchen, the product and the sales route. Pick another place to compare.

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The label maker opens with these requirements already loaded. Build it, then read the finished sticker back against the official source before you print a full sheet.

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